Silicone Label vs PVC Label | How to Tell Them Apart Easily

Today, let’s talk about how to tell silicone labels apart from PVC labels.

Many of our clients, when taking orders and discussing designs with their customers, run into this problem. Quite a few buyers and designers don’t know how to choose or tell these two materials apart.

Here you can see two labels: one is silicone, the other is PVC. From the front, they look almost identical, so most people can’t spot the difference. I’ll show you a few simple ways to distinguish them today.

First — the feel.

Silicone feels soft and skin-friendly, really comfortable when you squeeze it. PVC, by contrast, is much harder to the touch.

Second — the back side.

The back of a PVC label is shiny and glossy. The back of a silicone label has a matte finish. That’s our second clue.

Third — the flame test with a lighter.

Always test on the edge. When you burn silicone, it forms white fluffy ash. If you burn a PVC label, it turns black and gives off an unpleasant smell.

Why does it matter to tell them apart?

This is especially important for exporters. Different countries have different environmental standards. Silicone can pass nearly all global environmental tests. For PVC, however, some countries have strict rules.

Take Germany for example. Products there must be free of PVC in certain cases, and PVC items will fail the environmental testing.

There is also a big price gap. The raw material cost of silicone is much higher than PVC.

Another key point: we can add adhesive to the back of silicone labels. With this backing, they work as heat-transfer labels and can be ironed directly onto garments — no sewing needed.

PVC cannot be made into heat-transfer labels, because the two materials handle heat very differently. Silicone has excellent heat resistance and stays stable when pressed onto fabric. PVC cannot withstand this heat.

These are the main differences between them.

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